CORRESPONDENCE. GEASSES. Sir,—Tour correspondent " T. H." asks for information upon the moat suitable grasses for a sandy soil. Taking the queries in rotation, aa No. 1. " What are the most suitable seeds to be used for the formation of a permanent pasture for horses and oows on a sandy soil ?" So plant equals lucerne for dry, sandy soils. " T. 11." does not state if the soil is dry, but I take it for granted. If the subsoil is olay, and at a depth of eighteen inches to two feet from the surface, it will be an additional ad ran tage for lcoerne or other grasses ; in such a case I should adrise " T. H." to break through the clay by means of the subsoil plough. The sowing down of pastures with lucerne has one disadvantage—it is difficult to clear when once established in the soil. For a mixture of grasses, use cocksfoot, cow-grass, rib-grass, sweet vernal, oat-grass, birdafoot, trefoil, soft-grass, and Alayke olover; perennial rye-gran may also be included in the above, as it gives a ...

FOUR REMOVES FROM ECLIPSE. Some inquiry and observation occurred at Bendigo Usee Meeting last week upon the subject of a statement made in The Argue, and subsequently in The AvetraU atian, that Abd-el-Kader, the sire of the winner of the Maiden Plate, was only in the fifth remove of direct lineal descent from the renowned Eclipse. The state ment was thought singular, seeing that it is nearly a oentnry sinoe Eclipse flourished on the Turf; but it is never theless perfectly accurate. Abd-cl-Kader'e abort pedigree going back to Eclipse his great-great grandsire, is as follows—liia sire, Forlorn H ope, was by Cydnus, whose dam, Perai^Sblis, was by Alexander, a son of Eclipse. Alexander was foaled in 1762, when his tire was eighteen years old. Persepolis was foaled in 1803, and she dropped Cydnus, her thirteenth foal, in 1821, the latter the sire of Forlorn Hope in 1836, and so the century of space is bridged over.

^s&amp;BKumMm?m &amp;lt;*»• !ir"*i pay bit whole stake, and til bets respect ing each hone* ensll be qonsiderea tt pity or pay beta." Amongst the " Ad judged Uum" collated in the Racing Calendar, there. it only one appli to the circumstance* hen, and it i* that given:— . " For the Stand Cap at Liverpool Race*, in July, 18%, Velocipede was saddled, mounted, and brought out t bat on being centered, the rider found him lame, ana did not take him to the post to •tart. A question respecting the beta wis submitted to the stewards of the Jockey Club, who decided that the oaae did not oome within the provisions of the 81st (now the 40th) clause of the Rates and Orderi, and that the bete about Velocipede were not to be considered aa plav or pay." Not the leaat important point in the forgoing ia the distinction there carefully made between the hone being " saddled, mounted, and brought out," and hie being " taken to the post to start."

A TURF RETROSPECT. When titi* retrospect of the Turf hii twywM oommenoed in a former number Of Tie Autiralatian, it wu intended to' he, only n short rotund of racing gossip chiefly concerning the sporting " days of sold lug syne { and as it has now gone beyond the limits appointed, lest the reader s patience should be exhausted, the oOnclnsion must be hurried forward. Nor, indeed, is it necessary to dwell upon the Turf transactions of those later Tears which are yet fresh in the reeol leelion of the majority of men who attend our races, Talcing up the narratire at the com mencement of the season of 1858-59, we find Alice Hawthorn at -sill dintances, and Woodpecker, with Wait-a-while, Green Linnet, The Moor(formerly Bather shins), and Blink Bonny at some dis tances, winning most of the all-aged (takes and handicaps i Walkover re taining the command of the 8teeplechsse courses. Brownlock was very lucky, in his year for the Derbys and St. Legers; but Flying Jib, amongst the two-year ol...

"OBSERVER" ON THE LATE BENDIGO RACES. Baring matters are looldng up in the Bendigo district, and I should not be suprised if the local Jockey Club were to announce a three days' programme for their next " ryghte merrie meetynge." The late gathering was very successful in yielding good returns to the B J.C. tree smy, and would hare been more eo had .the affair been sufficiently adrertised in journals which almost unirersaliy meet the eye of intending visitors to the races. Provincial stewards hare not yet realised the Jaet that their announcements should not only eome under the observation of the owners of racehorses, who, of course, would look for foe programmes though they were published only in the Govern ment Gazette, bat that the general public should be made to know something of their intentions. Personally, I hare heard persons in s public room in Melbourne, within comparatively a recent period, ex press surprise that races were next day to take place on Flemington oourae, non...

THE GAZETTE. Appoistmibts.—Sorvey Accounts,—That during the temporal? absence from (own of the Surveyor General, Mr. A. J. Skene is authorised to certify to all survey accounts. Aboriginal Board. — James M'Baln, Erg, MXA , to be the President of the Gea tral Board appointed to Watch over the Interests of the Aborigines. Guar dian of Minors. — William Henry Foster, of Ballarat, to be a guardian to conBent to the marriage of minors. Victorian Volunteer Force.—William Henderson, Esq., to be lieu tenant in the 1st Ballarat Corps Victorian Volunteer Bides; Alfred Purchas, Esq., to be lieutenant in the Metropolitan Troop Vic torian Volunteer Light Horse; Peter F. Donald, Erq., to be lieutenant in the Ptntridge Corps Victorian Volunteer Rifles. Committee of Management.—Thomas Austin, John Haimcg, Frank Griffith, and Patrick M'Donald, to be a committee of management for the Geelong Racecourse. Trustees.—J ohn M'Conochie, George Trangmar, Dawson M'Kebety, Robert James Campbell, and Francis T...

ZOOLOGY. [From the Proceeding* of the Zoologioe' Socletr of London, November 10,1868.] Ob ft* Batnckimu oocmrring i» fteAfa^Mom Hod ttf Sydney/, otft Emetic* mpomtMr Orographic*! JhtlriMo*. By GBUiBD KbifiS. Xt intut be interesting to every naturaliit,' and highly gratifying; to Dr. Albert Ountlier, to kern that hi* catiuate of the Batraohio iauoa of the Anatralian region ha* not been exaggerated, aod tbilt the more tee know of tliii fauna, (be doter it appear* to be allied to that .of South America, a* we teamed Doctor firet pointed >hut in hi* lamou* paper "On the Geographical Dittribution of Batraohians." Dr, "Ounther, in aumming up, plare* the Australian region, with regard to its richness or forms, at the head of hia list—namely one aperies to erejy 88,000square milea. Thu'raOo will soon be realized, if not surpassed, as the following figures will ahow. When Dr. Gunfoer published bis "Cbtalarae of the Batraehia Bslienfja" in 1858, he enumerated twenty-six Australian species,...

ANTI-BOEDER CUSTOMS MEET ING AT ALBURY. (fbok the boedeb post, dec. 14 ) Last Thursday evening a public meeting was held at the Exchange Hotel, Albury, for the ptirpoee ot protesting against the Bolder duties. The mayor, S. 0. V. North, Esq., occupied the chair. About one hundred and thirty persons, comprising most of the influential residents in the town, were present. The Mayor said that be trusted that this would not be considered a political meeting, as in that case there might be n division of opinion among them. Tbey had met for an important pontic purpose, nod he hopod tbey would ell be united in opposition to a great public nuisance. He called on Mr. J. T. Fallon to move the first resolution. Mr. J, T. Fallon said that the people of Aibmythed been grossly misled with refereuoe to the Customs arrangement. He for one was told font' If he purchased goods they could be sent up here in bond from Doolm. On the ntrengh of thet assuranoe he por cbased "goodta, and might have been ve...

INTERCOLONIAL. NEW SOUTH WALES. MORGAN'S LATEST EXPLOITS. The Albtirf Banner of Wednesday 'contains the following narrative, famished by a corres pondent at Kyamba;— "Morgan paid ns a visit here last evoning. At abont twelve o'clock noon he made his ap pearance at the camp of Mr. Adams, road contractor, when he bailed np all his men, about fifteen in number, and, as a warning to the contractor for having no cash in hand for the supply of his wants, he get fire to the tents, thus ruthlessly destroying at least £16 or £20 worth of property. Five Chinamsn basing made their appearance, he caused them also to join the rest of the men; and having ordered them to Btrip, with a view to searching their garments, they not under standing the command, and therefore appa rently hesitating to put it in force, he shot oue of them in the arm, just below the shoulder joint This man is now lying at the Kyamba Hotel, in a ptecirious state, and the ball has not been extracted. After all, the money foun...

NORTH-WESTERN AUSTRALIA. {fftOK THI •. JL. BUUtBK, OOT.1S.) The dope tehee iiom Colonel FiontM to the Goreiument, whloh were sent la the Beatrice, rid Timor, bsve now oomp■ to head, Although the second despa&amp;bes, written anbeeqoently, have taken off the noweltyof those now recelred, there is still: much of an Interesting character respecting the settlement which will repair perusal.; . repay perusal. From a despatch dated August 10 we make the following extracts:— the " Daring the voyage there were no caaaal tlee ampng the hones and bollooks. The pheep (offered eererely from want of room, and we only landed 68 out of 160 embarked. About 60jper1ahed onthe voyage. •' The Tatala catne In ton the 29th Jpne , with the lorn of her rudder, and false keel, having got ashore off OapeBashon, one of the best-surveyed localities on the coast. I forward oopy of the' adioonerti log during the time tme Vrae agrOund. With the ex ceptlon of this casualty, and the low of one of the crew of th...

LATER AMERICAN NEWS. FEB CBEVnxa AHD BIKD (EICTEB'B ACEXTS). SYDNEY, Dec. 23. The Electric, berqus, which arrived here laBt night ban San Francisco, bringi newi bom the seat of war in America to the 21st of October. She left San Francisoo on the 22nd October, with a cargo of lumber for Sydney. 11 r. and Mia. Kean had arrived in good health at San Francisco. They commenced their theatrical campaign under very favour able ausploes with the performance of Lea is the Eleventh, on which occasion the House was crowded to suffocation, and the unprece dented mm of l.GOOdol. was taken at the doors. HEW YORE, Oct. 21. Tha report, which was received by late telegram by the mail steamer, that Atlanta had been recaptured by the Con federate*, is not true. The main army of the Confederates was, at the latest date, in Mismari. marching to wards Kanms Federal General Sherman defeated General Hood (who was reported to have recaptured Atlanta) at Allatooua. General Early's oops attempted to obtain po...

MELBOURNE POLICE COURT. Friday, December 16. tee customhouse bobbery* William Sheriff and Geoige Smith, on remand, were charged with breaking into Her Majesty's Cnstoms-Ehtd, and with stealing a quantity of tobacco therefrom. John Robert Williams, landing-waiter of tie Customs, deposed he was employed at No. 4 Shed, at the Australian Wharf, on the 10 th inst. There were many boxes of tobacco then in the shed, amungft them the four boxes produced in court. The tobacco was taken out of the boxes on Friday, for examination; it was then returned to them, and the boxes were closed. On Monday witness found the boxes were empty. The tobacco was con signed to Messrs. Parbury, Lamb, and Go. X'htmas M*Cann, keeper of No. 4 Shed, proved locking up the shed at half past twelve o'clock on the 10th iust. Everything was then correct within the shed. Went there again on Monday morning, when he found a policeman there, and saw that a hole had been broken through the floor from beneath. (Some of the ...

criminal sittings. Tcmdat, Dsn. 28. (Before Me Soscmr Mr. Juetlbe Molw worth, ipl Ownmoa Juries) . HOTUHW. . Drawn' otepbeowwi «M arraigned for having on the 90th of November willedly eat j tdmellw aJofothonaht murdcred-wee. Mew Anne ChaUMigaVJW. A»|)lwiiU defended the prisoner.' Mr. Aoinaos brltfly elated the cue for the prosecnlion. JobnHatatiU ft»ted that he me aetoreman, and lived at BaUamt-atteet, North Melbourne. He knew the deoeued woman «« Ho. i I fitephnoBor), but bethought her right name I was Mary Anne Challeuger. Oq Saturday, the 19th of November, he and a woman i.ntrod Mary Anne Fraaer buried a child of tin ira. Tbey went oat In the evening to the Nugn t Hon I. II ' got drauk and went home, m d did not remember going to be], bat ho knew that when he awoke lira. Stephenson was in bed with him. He did not know pre viously that, she whs there. They had some rum together, although he was not sober. The woman was drnuk too. Mary Anne Frazer did not return to his boose that n...

INSOLVENT COURT. Fbidat, Deo. 16. (Before W, B. Noel, Eeq., Chief Oommtaloner of InaulVrot Bjt*te«) ' ib be WILLIAHBEHBT HOMOBS. The Chief OonmesioHEB delivered judge ment In this case, refodng the °{ certificate. Heialdr-Theioaotout petitioned for the sequestration of M» estate on the IB A .,f Jute In the vie*"1* balance-eheet, chawing eaeeta £267, and debts *8,629. Ue applied for a discharge on Mo v. mber 14, and was then opposed by Matin. Wood and Ware, on twelve grounds orohjec tiuns, which insolvent bni been heatdto con lend against, ItolukUuimeoearwy toetate why 1 dismiss the first, second, and third, and proceed at once to the fourth—via, the : lodging a iulse Inventoryat a meetingof cre dltora. TbisofleLceiinotlncluiedin thelBth , etc. 7 Vic. 19, and the 78rd sec. of 6 Vict. 17 maloea the act punishable only when done at the second met tlog. Moreover, the^inventory here complained of as oontalning false state merits Is the schedule Med Wore any meet iiigs were advertised. I ...